as-salamu
'alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh; I have had the immense
pleasure of listening to your speeches on youtube in recent weeks.
This letter inquires into the intellectual question of Mahdi in the
Holy Qur'an. You took on this topic in a most holistic manner in your
lecture titled: The Mahdi - World Religions - Ramadan 2015 - Sayed
Ammar Nakshawani, link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldpj8Jjjuec

I
have been interested in this topic for many years and have compiled
my own research in this area but which has led me to a different
conclusion on this topic: that this matter is manifestly
Indeterminate in the Holy Qur'an. Before I delve into this
inquiry, I would like to introduce this topic and also introduce
myself in order to holistically define the context for this inquiry
and hope that you will most generously engage me and benefit me in
this inquiry.

This
is a topic that spiritually interests every Muslim, and as you
rightly pointed out in your lecture, all mankind. It is of particular
interest to me from at least two axes: theology, and social
engineering. The latter term simply means mass behavior control by
any means to better control human beings, an exercise which has been
on-going from time immemorial. The notion of Mahdi as it appears in
World's religions is not divorced from some aspect of social
engineering. Therefore, its examination directly in the Scriptures,
specifically the Holy Qur'an which Muslims believe is the word of
God, untampered by the hand or the mind of man, is most crucial.
Meaning, its intellectual examination directly in the Scripture and
not in its exegesis, hadith literature, and history. It is not just
an academic interest, but rather of utmost existential import as
well. While no Muslim scholarship entertains the idea of 'tahreef' in
the Holy Qur'an for its pristine textual content, it is a sad tragedy
of the religion of Islam that 'tahreef' has indeed transpired in the
meaning and interpretation of the pristine text of the Holy Qur'an.
Just the state of Muslims and the myriad sects and interpretations or
schools of thought Muslims have become divided into, is self-evident
evidence of the veracity of that statement. Therefore, we would like
to separate from the mind of man, and the pen of man, and use the
Word of God, so to speak, to understand the Mind of God. At least to
the first order. That is only sensible, no?

I
am not a scholar for your information, thanks God, and only a
student, a most ordinary one at that. But also a peculiar student. I
say thanks God for not being a scholar because the scholar as you
know carries a mighty burden. Mightier the scholar, heavier the load.
That burden is most aptly described in Surah An-Nahl verse 16:25 of
the Holy Qur'an. I am a peculiar student I say because I am a student
not of “ilm” per se, as in “talib-e-ilm”
which is what is often understood from the word “student”,
but a student of reality as in “talib-e-reality”,
meaning, seeking to uncover reality, “haqeeqat”, the way
it actually is, and not by way of socialization by birth or culture
or civilization, or by perception management, or by whim and fancy of
the uncontrollable immanent spaces in the philosopher's mind.
Meaning, unlike Plato the philosopher seeking his immanent Forms or
Shapes in his mighty imagination to understand and explain creation,
a student such as myself seeks to discover and uncover what is, the
way it actually is. This is the principal foundation for uncovering
truth, and haq, which are themselves prerequisites for establishing
justice. All obvious of course to those with any ma'rifat of reality.
What is not often obvious though is that the self always stands in
its way. That self is both cognitive, as well as subconscious and
instinctual. I do not speak here of the soul which is of course part
of the self in virtually every theology. I am mostly concerned with
the intellect, and the empirical, and what is discoverable, and to
what extent, using the mind which is itself under influence of forces
that it neither easily perceives nor controls. That is why mankind
has been given “aqal” - to reflect, and is called upon to
come to the Holy Qur'an with a “cleansed heart”, i.e.,
without prejudices and agendas, preconceptions and presuppositions,
and specifically without socialization and confirmation biases ---
for each shall only find in the Scripture what one is looking for. We
often don't use the “aqal” and the “cleansed heart”
sufficiently, and in fact, we use it rarely, but continue to labor
under the delusion of great thought and great spiritual
enlightenment. We sometimes confuse memory and oratory, knighthood
and academic or theological degrees, and at times the length of beard
and style of imama and gown, with reflection and understanding. The
mark of piety stamped upon one's forehead is directly equated with
“those who know” or understand. The humble ones don't do
it for themselves, but followers seeing these signs in their scholars
often bow before their authority. The truth of these words leave no
room for doubt, for the matter is self-evident. And Qur'anic verses
2:166-167 further proclaim and reaffirm that empirical truth.

Let
them bear, on the Day of Judgment, their own burdens in full, and
also (something) of the burdens of those without knowledge, whom
they misled. Alas, how grievous the burdens they will bear!
(Surah An-Nahl 16:25)

And
those who were but followers will say: If a return were possible
for us, we would disown them even as they have disowned us.
Thus will Allah show them their own deeds as anguish for them,
and they will not emerge from the Fire.” (Surah Al-Baqara,
2:166-2:167)

A
rigorous intellectual journey of discovery of reality therefore,
requires separating the observed from the observer, obviously, in
order to lend both objectivity and rationality to uncovering the
underlying reality, “haqeeqat”, in every domain, or,
uncovering what is empirical in the words of scientists, such that
the reality can be uncovered and understood by anyone who treads that
path and adopts that approach. If there is only one underlying
reality beneath everything, every conception, every existence, every
phenomenon, meaning one base “haqeeqat”, then all seekers
can eventually reach it objectively such that all can then agree upon
that “haqeeqat”! That is the principal foundation of
unity --- for there isn't another; no?

Meaning,
common ground or consensus or unity on “haqeeqat” can
only be reached, not via unfalsifiable axioms of faith, but on
pursuing falsifiable axioms, leaving subjective faith based axioms at
home or in one's heart or for one's prayers or as one's motivation as
the prime-mover for the journey of the mind. This is obviously the
fundamental method of science which relies on axioms that are all
falsifiable. I have employed that scientific approach, both as a
trained engineer, and as an amateur social scientist with deep
interest in sociology and psychology, to parsing social science. And
specifically, to the study of religion to better uncover spiritual
reality to the extent that it is cognitively and intellectually
uncoverable using the head, albeit with ma'rifat and deep
understanding, and only to the extent that one has the “zarf”
and the “taufiq”. Some of this understanding is
transcendental of course, and many a savant stand at the perch of
“irfan” that is denied to ordinary mortals. I do not
speak to that latter model of the Saints and the Sufis, nor to
perennial philosophers and their immanent thesis, but to the model
where one applies reason and logical analysis to data to deduce
lessons and deeper understanding. What data? Today, in this inquiry
letter, that data is what is stated in the verses of the Holy Qur'an
on the question of Mahdi: What does the Holy Qur'an say if anything
at all? The question, once again, is NOT: what does the pen of man
says what it says. In other words, when studying Shakespeare for
example, to understand the playwright's sense of divine tragedies and
human weaknesses using his own words rather than using Cliff Notes
and “darsi” commentaries of what others say it says.

I
apologize for the length of the preceding passages but I found it
minimally necessary to set the ambiance correctly under which I would
like to solicit your erudite analysis on my student-ish discoveries
on the question of Mahdi in the Holy Qur'an which could be of direct
benefit to me rather than just waste your time by you rehearsing
formulaic prescriptions and pat formulations that you have already
conceived as part of your belief system. I
am not interested in your faith or your
belief system or your understanding of Shia Islam. I am interested in
intellectual rigor applied to a Scripture on a specific question as
posed by your interlocutor. That means, what does the Holy Qur'an say
about the imammate of Imam Mahdi, and not what other books written by
historians, scholars, exegesis writers, and hadith compilers, allamas
and ayatollahs, etc., say about it. It is a constrained formulation,
and its purpose is to come to grips with what precisely does the Holy
Qur'an itself convey on the topic, and more importantly, what it does
not say, or employs “mutashabihaat” to which
interpretation and “tawil” have been imputed by the
fertile imagination of man and penned by the hand of man. This is
only the compartmentalized part of a larger study of understanding
the Scripture which of course cannot be separated from the
sociological context of the historical times in which it was
revealed, compiled, and its interpretation handed down to posterity.
The sociological and historical dimensions are foundationally rooted
in epistemology and its discussion and analysis and conclusions are
not a topic for today. As are the supposed teachings and “tawil”
of the Imams of the Ahlul-Bayt in the Shia understanding of the
religion of Islam, all of which are subject to the same
epistemological considerations as well as being sourced from texts
outside of the Holy Qur'an.

To
get a further handle on the verses of the Holy Qur'an for
intellectual study and reflection, without making recourse to the
mind and pen of man for assistance, I have introduced two
classifications to assist my study, Determinate and
Indeterminate. These abstractions are defined on pg.
120 in Chapter I Part-II of of my book Hijacking
Holy Qur'an and Islam, which, at best, despite its depth, only
superficially examines the question apparent in the title based on my
own limited acumen, and, not unsurprisingly, comes away with a
completely different conclusion than what you concluded in your
lecture on the topic of Mahdi. I spent a whole hour listening to your
learned discourse, and several hours on each of your other most
articulate lectures. Since I found myself in apparent agreement with
many conclusions you relate based on my own humble study if not with
its every detail, I humbly invite you to spend at least one hour
reviewing what I concluded differently from you. I invite you to
offer your sharp insights on what I have tentatively arrived at which
does not rely on what the pen of man has stated, but what the Holy
Qur'an itself has stated and not stated. The matter is discussed in
depth on pgs.
212 - 273, and specifically in the subsection Fixing
Qur'anic Beatitudesstarting
pg. 243.

Most
people don't read others' writings and thoughts to help or benefit
their authors; they mostly read and reflect only for themselves. This
humble invitation is for you to read to assist me in my reaching a
better understanding at uncovering what the Holy Qur'an itself has
said on the topic in its own verses in contrast to what learned
scholars, the man of cloth from antiquity to modernity, have imposed
meaning on to those verses from outside sources --- which include all
the “wasael-e-shia” and “wasael-e-sunni”
added together. Regardless of their worthiness, the question before
us is only this: What does the Holy Qur'an itself say, and does
not say, on the topic of Divine Rule of which the question of Mahdi
is an integral eschatological component, just like valih-e-faqih is
the contemporary component. Both topics are addressed in these
cited pages based on what I have uncovered and understood. As a
student of reality, I endeavor my best to go where my research and
reflection takes me and I have no gratuitous preconceptions and
predispositions (apart from the aspects of the self noted above which
requires a perpetual struggle, “jihad-un-nafs”, unto
itself to separate the observer from the observed).

In
précis of my discovery, it appears to me that imam Mahdi
abstraction is an interpreted viewpoint and falls in the
classification of Indeterminates of the Holy Qur'an. Please do
read the cited pages to comprehend the complete depth of that
analysis. It is neither superficial nor shallow. But is of course
limited by the fact that I am only a humble student of reality,
harboring only a limited natural acumen. I invite you, the one with
far greater ma'rifat and natural acumen who sits on the
'takt-e-salooni' to give public lectures, to offer some Qur'anic
evidence-based counter-analysis if you are not convinced by the logic
of the matter in my own humble reflections, so that, I may,
InshaAllah, benefit from your ma'rifat, and for which only God shall
give you your rewards. For me, the journey alone is the reward!

The
intellectual rationale for trying to understand what the Holy Qur'an
says and does not say by using the verses of the Holy Qur'an to
interpret each other, is on pgs.
51 onwards of my book, specifically pg. 115 under the
subheading Adopting a Systematic Systems Approach. The
rationale is spread out in all of Chapter I Part-II however by way of
examples, which automatically beg this approach to anyone with any
degree of intelligence. The rationale of permitting the Holy Qur'an
to be its own “tafsir” and “ta'wil”, to
decipher and explain its own verses, is similar to what Allama
Tabatabai and Ayatollah Murtada Mutahhari have related on how to
study the Holy Qur'an (see footnote [5] on pg. 124, and Endnote
[38] on pg. 346). However, why I arrived at this same method of study
quite independently from sheer commonsense, and of course with a
modicum of intellectual energy, is in the preceding referenced pages.

So,
did I get it wrong? Show me. But if I got it right and you cannot
refute it to your own good conscience and intellectual integrity,
then you might consider accepting what comes directly out of the Holy
Qur'an – that Eschatological matters of which the construct of
Imam Mahdi is the core component, is entirely Indeterminate
in that Holy Book which its own Author proclaims, is “without
doubt”, “completed”, “perfected”, and
therefore, without room for any further addition and subtraction of
meaning, words, and semantic constructs. It is what it is, a Divine
Guidance to mankind on how to live, and why to live – the goals
for humanity and the methods by which to attain them. See my essay
Waiting
for Allah in Chapter 6 of my book which points out how
this Eschatological construct of Imam Mahdi is logically counter to
the lofty Qur'anic goals of self-empowerment, for both “muttaqi”
man and woman to endeavor to fashion himself and herself into the
“ashraf-ul-maklooqaat” - the purpose of mankind's
creation explained in the Holy Qur'an. Which is perhaps why such
dystopic Eschatology in every religion has only benefited the tyrants
and the taghoots since time immemorial, putting mankind farther and
farther away from the goals of achieving
social justice and Solonic activism in its every generation.
Why bother challenging tyrants and unjust social norms and usurpative
ruling systems in the first place if all such efforts are destined to
fail until the divine rule of Imam Mahdi?

The
spirit of Islam as a religion to transform man and society
irrespective of their civilization is patently reduced to an
absurdity by such semantic constructs by way of reductio ad
absurdum. My essay Waiting
for Allah goes
into depth of what happens if this premise is taken to be true and
compares it with empirical data.

In
conclusion, either I have misperceived grossly to shockingly argue
against the grain of popular wisdom of the popes and laity alike,
that the semantics attributed to this eschatology is entirely manmade
and drawn from pages outside of the Holy Qur'an composed by the mind
of man. Or, I have got it right. Use the criterion of al-Furqaan, the
Holy Qur'an itself, to adjudicate, just as it is meant to adjudicate
upon all matters that pertain to Divine Guidance by its own Noble
Declaration. That is the challenge sir. And common understanding,
common ground, unity, on comprehending reality, “haqeeqat”,
can only be reached as per all the preamble earlier, when we
understand the singular underlying reality that the Good Book has
indeed made some matters “mutashabihaat” and some
patently Indeterminate. There is
a reason for it. Had God wanted to clearly instruct mankind on
matters of Eschatology, ordain Imam Mahdi to be a part of the
Musalman's faith, He would have made the construct of Imam Mahdi
Determinate and among His
“ayat-e-mukahmaats”, the foundational
verses of the Holy Qur'an, just as He has done other matters of faith
such as the Day of Judgment, etceteras.

I
look forward to benefiting from your profound ma'rifat and sharp
acumen in this domain which is amply on display in your excellent
lectures on Islam, MashaAllah.

I
would also love to read your Ph.D. Thesis noted in your short bio:
Examining the Caliphate of Muawiya b Abi Sufyan, if you send
me a link to its PDF. A quick search did not uncover it on the web.
There is the idea that Machiavelli must have studied Muawiya before
writing the Prince. Do you think that is plausible?

If
you wish to know more about your humble interlocutor before replying,
try Google, and see my website http://humanbeingsfirst.org
. A short bio is in my book as well.

Thank
you, May God reward you generously for your efforts and give more
power and ma'rifat to you to uncover and promulgate truth. To do so
one has to of course uncover it first and not presuppose it, and I
pray that this realization becomes ingrained in your intellectual
journey just as tenaciously as your faith appears to have become
ingrained in your life's journey. God bless you.

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